Olivia looked at Ivy seriously. ‘I can survive a school year. Yes, it’ll bite – but it’s worth it, isn’t it? You need to find out more about your heritage, and about yourself. Your life as a vampire won’t always include me and I’m OK with that.’
Suddenly, Ivy wasn’t convinced that they’d been born only minutes apart. Olivia seemed so mature! She wrapped her sister up in a huge hug, and not just to hide the tears pooling in her eyes – though that was an added benefit.
‘Ouch!’ Olivia yelped. ‘Watch the super-strength!’
Ivy softened her embrace. ‘Oops! Guess it’s a good thing I’m going to Wallachia after all.’ She pulled away and poked at her bicep. ‘I really need to get these freaky vamp powers under control.’ Ivy felt her phone vibrate from inside her black clutch. She pulled it out. ‘It’s Brendan,’ she told Olivia.
‘Well, go on then.’ Olivia shooed her away. Ivy really did have the most understanding sister in the world – of humans or vampires.
Ivy picked up the hem of her dress and walked out into the shadowy grounds, beyond the gleam of the paper lanterns and loud music. ‘Hello?’ She plugged one ear with a finger so she could hear better.
‘You answered!’ Brendan’s voice was husky and familiar and made Ivy’s heart ache in her chest. ‘How’s the wedding?’
Ivy swallowed hard. ‘It’s been . . . eventful,’ she admitted with a short laugh.
‘What’s wrong? You sound all weird and scratchy.’ Her boyfriend knew her too well.
‘Brendan,’ she felt herself waver but then remembered what Olivia had said about getting to know her heritage and getting to know herself. ‘I think I’m going to stay in Transylvania and go to Wallachia for a while.’ A long pause stretched between them like the Atlantic Ocean. ‘Um, are you still there?’ she asked.
‘Yeah. I’m still here. And I think that’s exactly what you need to do, Ivy,’ said Brendan. She could tell that he meant it. ‘But on one condition.’
Ivy’s forehead wrinkled. ‘What’s that?’
‘Don’t you dare come back to Franklin Grove all snooty,’ he said, teasing. ‘Or your sister and I will have to knock you down a peg or two.’
‘Please,’ Ivy replied. ‘You two couldn’t knock me anywhere. It’s my super-vampy powers that got me into this mess in the first place, remember.’ Ivy tried to joke, but even as she said it she was almost overwhelmed at the thought of her family getting on the plane without her. She’d be staying here and Brendan would be waiting for her there, in Franklin Grove. What if she hated Wallachia? The only person she knew there was Petra, and she wasn’t so sure that girl could be trusted. Sophia, Camilla, Brendan, Olivia – she already had the best friends anyone could ask for. All of these changes were too much to bear. ‘It’s just that I’m really going to miss you,’ she admitted. ‘Even more than I realised. Coming to Transylvania has made me see how difficult it will be.’
She heard Brendan gasp. ‘Did Ivy Vega just get all sappy on me?’
Ivy knew her boyfriend couldn’t see her fist planted firmly on her left hip, but she hoped he would sense it, and get the point. ‘You better not tell a soul.’
‘Cross my heart.’ Brendan chuckled. ‘But, for the record . . . I’ll miss you too.’
After they had said their goodbyes – maybe three or four times more than was necessary – Ivy clicked her phone shut and stuffed it back into her elegant but too-tiny bag. Smeared eyeliner would most definitely not be a good look, she thought, swiping underneath her eyes.
When she re-entered the hall, her eyes locked with Olivia’s. Her sister was waiting with her patented Olivia smile and open arms.
‘Don’t forget about me, OK?’ Ivy said, hugging her twin.
‘Hello?’ Her sister fake-slapped her. ‘How could I? Whenever I look in the mirror, I’m reminded of you. We’re identical, remember?’
‘Except for the blusher.’
‘And the extra eyeliner.’
The girls giggled, before their sweet moment was broken by a single word: Paaarty!
Vincenzo pumped his fist on the dance floor and jumped into a split mid-air.
‘Ouch!’ Both girls cringed in unison. There was the sound of fabric tearing. ‘That looked like it hurt.’
The wedding band sped up the number and vampires dressed in their evening best flocked to the dance floor. When in Rome . . . thought Ivy, as she dragged Olivia out after her.
‘Let’s dance!’
Two conga lines, a vamp sing-a-long, and a good old boogie to ‘Let’s Do the Vamp Walk’, and Olivia was worn out. She wandered out of the dance hall, breathless. She’d been cheering at football games for years, but these vamps had party stamina! She stopped in the archway to watch everyone dance to ‘A Hard Day’s Bite’.
Olivia looked from Ivy to her dad and Lillian, and finally to her grandparents, who were bopping away like they were two hundred years younger than they really were. These people were her family and maybe, just maybe, she’d be OK without . . . She forced herself to think the name.
Jackson.
She strolled along the outside passageway that ran along the edge of the mansion. Crickets were chirping and Olivia could just make out the Big Dipper if she ducked her head out into the open air.
Voices were coming from an adjoining room. ‘The bats have to be ready for their release at ten sharp!’ Olivia overheard Lucia the wedding planner directing. ‘The couple simply cannot leave without a flock to herald their new start. It’s bad luck not to have bats!’